View full sizeMidfielder Will Johnson, practicing Tuesday at Jeld-Wen Field, brings strong numbers and some even more important intangibles to the Timbers. "He's just a winner. He has a winning mindset and he knows what it takes," Timbers coach Caleb Porter says.Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian

Will Johnson likes to take on challenges. He has taken on a big challenge in Portland.

Real Salt Lake gave the midfielder a choice of teams to join and he decided to forgo playoff clubs such as Vancouver to join the Timbers. Why Portland, a team that finished with the third-fewest points during the 2012 MLS regular season?

"The challenge is turning this team into a playoff caliber team. Turning it into a contender every year and not just a team with good fans," Johnson said. "It needs to be a winning team. That's the main challenge I see."

Portland coach Caleb Porter said Johnson's decision provides a clue into what type of player the Timbers have acquired.

"It says a lot about him as a person. He could've signed with another club, but he decided to go to a place where they haven't had as much success," Porter said. "I think he's the type of guy who is up for that type of challenge."

Johnson, acquired in a trade with Real Salt Lake in exchange for allocation money Dec. 3, brings sorely-needed intangibles to a team that is still trying to find its identity after two years of MLS play. Johnson spent the past five of his six MLS seasons with Real Salt Lake, during the club's impressive run of success since 2009. Real Salt Lake has reached double-digits in wins in each of the past five seasons and finished third or higher in four of the five seasons. The squad has reached the playoffs each season and won the MLS Cup championship in 2009.

Real Salt Lake has competed in the CONCACAF Champions League, a competition of teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean and was the first team in MLS history to reach the championship game in 2011 before losing to Monterrey.

The Timbers are coming off a hugely disappointing season in 2012 in which they struggled to close out games and win on the road - Portland has won just three of 34 road games in two seasons. Porter is confident Johnson's pedigree can help the Timbers turn their fortunes around.

"He's just a winner. He has a winning mindset and he knows what it takes," Porter said. "He knows what it's all about. He's going to be a leader on this team."

Johnson, who scored nine goals and added eight assists during his time at Real Salt Lake, said he wants to help instill a tougher mental attitude.

"I'm going to bring that hard-working mentality every single day. I think I can help translate that to some of the younger guys who are very talented, very young players, but haven't quite had the success yet," Johnson said. "You have to get a group of guys together who are willing to roll up their sleeves and go in and put in a 90-minute shift that's not going to be fun."

Porter has indicated the Timbers need a culture change inside the locker room and said Johnson knows what it takes to develop a winning attitude.

"He's a perfectionist. He demands a lot of himself and demands a lot from others around him," Porter said. "As we build a culture here with expectations, standards and responsibility, he's a guy that can be an extension of the coaching staff in that regard."

Porter hopes Will Johnson, defender Michael Harrington and forward Ryan Johnson will add to a core group of players that will grow and win together. Johnson was part of such a team in Real Salt Lake, but salary cap restrictions forced the team to break up the group (defender Jamison Olave and forward Fabian Espindola were traded to New York, midfielder Jonny Steele was released).

“Will’s arrival in the summer of 2008 was one of the major tipping points in our club’s history,” Real Salt Lake general manager Garth Lagerwey said in a statement announcing the trade. “RSL truly would not be where it is without Will. We can’t thank him enough for helping us establish not only a good team, but also a winning culture."

Johnson said he fully believes the Timber can replicate what Real Salt Lake possessed for five seasons.

"It's an extremely difficult challenge, especially when you're assembling a new team," Johnson said. "It's something we have to figure out a way to do, otherwise, we'll be on the outside looking in again. I don't see that being an option."